Sweat poured down Lunan’s pale face. Biting her lip, Beth opened the vial and poured the green liquid and parasites onto the wound.

“Kuuugh!”

“Bear with it a little. I’ll wrap it again.”

Lunan’s brow furrowed as the wound was compressed. Beth supported Lunan, whose breathing had weakened, and slowly helped him stand.

His body felt like a ball of fire, but stopping in the middle of the forest wasn’t a good choice. They had to keep moving.

“I’m fine. We can go now.”

Beth took a labored step forward. Lian slowed his pace so that she and Lunan wouldn’t fall behind.

If it had been a wound inflicted by a monster, they could have tried treating it with the Sword of Asker. But Lunan’s wound was caused by a poisoned arrow made by humans. The best option now was Dain’s medicine.

“Haa, haa, we seem to have almost arrived……”

After walking for quite some time, even Dain—who had the best stamina—placed his hands on his knees and exhaled roughly.

Lunan and Beth barely managed to keep up before collapsing on the ground, completely exhausted.

Lian hadn’t made a single sound of strain despite carrying Rosé the entire way. He leaned against a tree trunk and brushed back his sweat-soaked hair.

The staircase should be nearby, but the darkness revealed nothing that could be identified as one.

Lian hadn’t drawn the Sword of Asker once so he could hold Rosé securely. He had no choice now but to entrust her to Dain. At that moment, Rosé woke from her sleep and stirred.

Dain immediately tried to pick her up, but Rosé, spotting his bald head that shone even in the night sky, pushed him away in horror.

“Eek!”

“Miss Rosé! Are you alright!”

Thud.

“Oww…… I’m fine.”

Rosé rubbed her sore bottom. Fortunately, the ground was soft enough that her bones didn’t rattle.

“I apologize. This won’t happen again. I swear, Miss Rosé.”

Dain extended his hand to Rosé with a gentlemanly attitude. But perhaps because of his gleaming bald head, he didn’t exude the same dignity as before.

“……It’s fine. I’ll get up by myself.”

Again, children were honest by nature. Rosé pressed her hands, smaller than leaves, against the ground and stood up in one swift motion.

That small, cute movement reminded Dain of a gingerbread doll he used to play with as a child, making his body shiver. Rosé looked at him like he was some kind of pervert.

The disapproving gaze toward his bald head wasn’t just from her. Lian, who had been looking at Dain like he had something bitter in his mouth, reluctantly spoke.

“Mr. Hindley, just in case, don’t even think about doing anything inappropriate.”

“Of course not! Just leave Miss Rosé to me. Father-in…… Mr. Mora!”

Lian’s expression darkened further as he drew his sword, grinding his teeth. The light emitted from the sword instantly illuminated his surroundings like a bonfire.

Lian left his companions behind and entered deeper into the forest. And quite deep in there.

Whine, whine……!

The sound of a small animal.

He slowly lowered his sword toward the ground. There was a huge hole. Inside the hole of unknown depth, a fallen baby animal was crying.

His feet had stopped precariously in front of that hole. If he had continued forward without knowing, he would have fallen into the hole like that animal.

Swallowing dryly, Lian slowly knelt down and touched the ground. That was when it happened.

〈SYSTEM〉 Notice regarding Staircase 2

Current location is ‘Staircase 2’. This staircase is available.

Capacity: 7 (1)

When capacity is exceeded, all entrants’ internal organs will rupture and Staircase 2 will be forcibly closed.

Time remaining 0:47:02

“Staircase……”

Clang!

Almost simultaneously with the metallic sound, Lian’s body moved. The sound came from behind.

“Miss!”

Returning the way he came, Lian looked around desperately.

“Lian!”

It was Beth’s voice. Lian looked up at the tree where the sound came from. There, Beth and Lunan were hanging suspended in a net.

“Lian, behind you!”

Clang! Lian barely deflected the spear that flew at him from behind. Several arrows followed.

Rolling on the ground to avoid the arrows, Lian calmly surveyed his surroundings. Two men. One woman. Weapons were spears, swords, and bows.

“Beth! Where are Dain and Rosé!”

“Rosé ran away with Dain!”

Lian examined the ground. Footprints led behind the bushes.

Whoosh—! Just then, an arrow stuck into the tree trunk beside Lian. The light from the Sword of Asker was actually helping the enemy’s vision.

The archer grabbed another arrow from the quiver to make up for the missed shot. The next one would hit.

Lian quickly returned the Sword of Asker to its sheath and started running.

“D*mn it, catch him!”

The two men chased after Lian. If Dain had fled this way, there would be pursuers after him too. These weren’t the only ones.

Lian ran without stopping, following the jumbled footprints.

“Uwaaaaah!”

‘A scream!’

Lian turned left, following the sound. Crunch, the sound of bones breaking came from nearby. He was certain. It was this way.

“Aaaaaah! Stop!”

Pushing through a thick bush, Lian saw a man with his neck dangling in someone’s hand. That someone was Dain.

The man hanging like a piece of paper in his hand had all the bones in both hands broken. But Rosé wasn’t there.

“Dain! Where is Rosé!”

Only then noticing Lian’s presence, Dain hesitated and threw the man to the ground.

The man was already unconscious. Dain spoke, unable to hide his excitement.

“A woman with speed ability took her. I tried to extract the location from this man, but just couldn’t……”

D*mn it! Dain wiped his sweat-soaked forehead and spat out a curse.

Dain had been able to follow the woman part of the way. But at a fork in the road, he lost sight of the woman carrying Rosé.

“I’m sorry. If I had been just a bit faster……”

Dain clenched his fist with all his might. Lian spoke, suppressing his rising anger.

“We don’t have time for this.”

Shing. The Sword of Asker emerged from its sheath, emitting a thin beam of light. Lian closed his eyes and concentrated on the remaining fragments of light.

The divine power he had planted in Rosé’s sword back at the Delje boundary was still there. Soon, light spread from the Sword of Asker. Lian opened his eyes.

“I know where she is.”

* * *

Rosé opened her eyes in the darkness. An unfamiliar woman wavered before her eyes like a heat haze. She clicked her tongue when she saw Rosé awaken.

“Woke up, huh?”

The woman smiled while pulling a rope taut, as if testing its elasticity.

Rosé began to struggle, belatedly discovering the rope around her neck, which only made the woman laugh louder.

“Don’t blame me too much. I heard everything from my sponsor. You’re that child, aren’t you?”

The rope tightened, starting to compress her neck. Rosé made choking sounds and stretched her hands forward.

She grabbed the woman’s arm, but it was like pushing against a street lamp standing firmly—it didn’t budge at all.

“They say if you leave this place, this world will become chaotic. So me killing you is for peace.”

A flat tone of self-justification. But the woman’s hands pulling the rope were trembling. In the woman’s eyes, Rosé was nothing but a little child.

“I, I must survive and leave for my daughter’s sake.”

“Ugh, kk……”

“To pray for a wish, to cure her illness.”

The woman, speaking intensely, lifted her chin and exhaled.

“So please die.”

The rope began to tighten strongly. The strength gradually left Rosé’s hands gripping the woman’s arms. The focus disappeared from her eyes staring into empty space.

In her consciousness becoming hazy like a dream, a faint voice seeped into her ears.

— Please die.

Sometime, she seemed to have heard those words before.

— Must be eliminated without fail.

A man’s voice…..

— Achelous! Why did you allow that woman to reach land!

Residual fragments from old memories surfaced from beyond her consciousness. Rosé’s eyes slowly closed. A clear voice came through the darkness.

— That child should never have been born.

Tears gathered on her eyelashes rolled down Rosé’s cheeks. It was then that a completely different voice was heard.

— I didn’t abandon you.

— I won’t abandon you.

‘D, Dad…..’

Rosé’s hands, reaching upward to grab hold of something, searched for someone. She slowly lifted her eyelids.

A bright light stood before her. Her lips moved.

“D, Dad……”

At that moment.

Stab—!

“Kuhuk!”

A sharp blade pierced through the woman’s back and impaled her chest. Blood spewed from her mouth. The woman who had been clutching her own chest spoke with blood-reddened lips.

“Failed to… kill……”

The woman’s body tilted toward Rosé’s side. Startled, Rosé pressed against the ground and dragged herself backward. However, her gaze followed the beam of light shining down. Her lips parted weakly.

“Sir Emmett……”

At the end of that extending light stood Emmett.

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Aramista’ claps her hands saying you’re the second person who knows ten things when taught just one.